History Main / NotAScratchOnIt

Cars, trucks, planes and pretty much everything that moves in all forms of media often seem surprisingly resistant to damage and/or destruction. This is inconsistently applied: a vehicle's indestructibility is often purely a function of how important it is to the plot that a vehicle be MadeOfIron (or MadeOfPlasticine). This also counts when a vehicle that shows no damage whatsoever still suffers a CriticalExistenceFailure when appropriate (say, its HP value hits 0, or the BluesBrothers arrive at the courthouse).

Named for one of the victory lines in the game ''BlastCorps'' (also an example of this trope), where the player must destroy buildings with indestructible vehicles (ranging from bulldozers to HumongousMecha) in order to keep a [[EveryCarIsAPinto very fragile]] runaway truck loaded with nuclear weapons from exploding in a populated area.

This is often a consequence of lawyers: for ProductPlacement, car companies will often supply the vehicles for a movie, on the terms that the cars not be damaged, either because they'd like them back, or to perpetuate some ridiculous idea that their cars are indestructible. This is made worse in VideoGames, since some game companies have an irrational need to pay to licence real products instead of making the other company pay ''them'' for the advertising like everyone else, the makers of the products in question can set the terms to whatever they want, which can often mean indestructible cars. This can influence gameplay; at least one racing game has had to cut out damage models because the licensors wouldn't let them.

Contrast with EveryCarIsAPinto. See also BeautyIsNeverTarnished.
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!!Examples:

[[AC:{{Anime}} and {{Manga}}]]
* Haruko Haruhara's signature Vespa from ''{{FLCL}}'' never takes any damage despite being its owner's ride of choice when charging into battle against the myriad monsters that spring from Naota's forehead every episode. Nonetheless, it is shown to break down on occasion, but it's nothing slotting a Gundam figure into it or a stop-motion sequence in the end credits can't fix.
* In many HumongousMecha series, bullets, beam sabers and laser cannons will rip through most mecha, but they seem surprisingly impervious to more mundane things like ''falling any distance''. Even the ones with delicate parts will get back up with all their wings and command antennae intact.

[[AC:{{Film}}]]
* [[Film/TheBluesBrothers The Bluesmobile]], as noted above, is indestructible (except when it reaches the courthouse, at which point it spontaneously falls apart).
** A better indicator of this trope is the chase scene earlier in the film through a crowded mall. The mall was abandoned and had nothing inside. The Blues Brothers team filled the inside of the mall, then asked a few car dealers to fill the lot outside so the mall would look crowded. In interviews later on, the cast and crew were very afraid of doing any damage whatsoever to the parked cars, as they all had to go back to the dealers without a scratch.
** They were [[RunningGag on a mission from God]], you know.
* Mentioned on the ''Film/{{Transformers}}'' DVD, where the CGI robots were given plenty of dings and scratches to help them blend into the environment, but the prop cars themselves were always buffed, sometimes giving them an almost CGI appearance.
* The NighInvulnerable Dodge truck in the movie ''Film/{{Twister}}''. The rest of the storm chaser's cars lose windshields to hail and get dented from storm debris, the hero's truck only gets a measly flat tire, and that's not even storm-related!
* ''Film/GoldenEye'' had the officially licensed cars appear for just a bit and not really do anything. When fans complained at the sponsor and the filmmakers, ''Film/TomorrowNeverDies'' ended up with a lengthy chase scene where the licensed car that ended up being practically reduced to a crumpled ball of sheet metal, but Bond dropped it off back at the rental agency... Through their window.
* In the 1984 film of [[Literature/NineteenEightyFour the story of the same name]], everything is run down, dirty and decaying except for a patrol helicopter that's seen outside Winston Smith's window at one point. Presumably because it would have been too much trouble to dirty down a helicopter and then clean it up again before returning it to the hire company.
** This is possibly FridgeBrilliance. A totalitarian government will make sure to keep patrol helicopters and other military vehicles in pristine condition because they focus more on the military than the rest of the country, akin to Soviet Russia or North Korea.
* Arguably, the vehicle driven by Dennis Quaid in the film ''VantagePoint''. He (playing a Secret Service agent) chases a vehicle being driven by his traitorous partner, and incurs three car crashes during the chase, none of which slow the vehicle down at all. It's only a full-on collision with a wall that stops the vehicle, and Dennis Quaid jumps out of the vehicle with nary a scratch.
* ''TheFrenchConnection'', when police officer Popeye Doyle drives recklessly to catch a suspect travelling to a nearby station in Manhattan. The car narrowly misses dozens of vehicles and pedestrians, and makes it without a scratch.
* The remake of ''TheNuttyProfessor'': During when Buddy Love is leaving the nightclub to his Dodge Viper while reverting back to Sherman Klump with the assistant Jason approaching him, is over-sized foot slammed the accelerator maneuvering pass every car untouched until eventually stopped. The fire department still have to use the jaws of life to get Sherman out.

[[AC:LiveActionTV]]
* If ''MythBusters'' is anything to go by, the General Lee from ''TheDukesOfHazzard'' couldn't possibly survive all those insane stunts every episode. In fact, the General Lee ''didn't'' survive all those insane stunts: they went through 309 of them over the course of the series to maintain the "not a scratch on it" look.
** Of the 26 Dodge Chargers used in the film, many were wrecked so a few could finish without a scratch. One of the original General Lee's had to be returned to Warner studios after shooting, and two Chargers that were acquired for two bucks on the condition they be sold back to the prior owner for a dollar and a quarter each.
* Justified in ''KnightRider'', with the car being NighInvulnerable. Even more so in the recent TV movie, where the car isn't quite as invulnerable, but self-repairing. After a certain crash, the car still sparkled. (As per the tv movie, it also only worked when the system was on; turn off the computer, and you have a normal, smashable car. In the show, however, it was a high tech polymer, with the formula split between three different people. KITT did not become vulnerable until someone created an antidote, and then it was just so they could upgrade KITT into a convertible.)
* During an episode of ''Series/{{Heroes}}'' there's a shoot out with one person hiding behind Hiro and Ando's rented Nissan Versa. In a fine example of the Nissan Versa's incredibly blatant ProductPlacement in that show, Hiro later comments that there's not a scratch on the [[RunningGag Nissan Versa]].
* The ''TopGear'' presenters once tried to destroy a Toyota Hilux. They failed - after drowning it, using it as a wrecking ball and putting it on top of a block of flats that was then demolished, it still started. The beat-up Hilux in question now sits on a podium in the studio, and Toyota went on to release the Hilux Invincible, and use footage of the process in commercials for the US-model [[MarketBasedTitle Tacoma]].

[[AC:VideoGames]]
* ''BlastCorps''.
* Human vehicles in ''VideoGame/HaloCombatEvolved'' are completely indestructible, regardless of ''what'' you hit them with. In ''VideoGame/{{Halo 2}}'' and ''VideoGame/{{Halo 3}}'', this trope is partly subverted in that vehicles ''do'' show damage, but they cannot actually be destroyed unless Master Chief (or the Arbiter)'s HP is depleted entirely.
* A lot of games where vehicles can be destroyed have the vehicles appear without a scratch until they finally blow up.
** In the case of the racing game ''VideoGame/DeathRally'', regardless of how many bullets you've flung at the opposing cars or how much damage you've taken, the cars on the track look just fine until their damage hits 100%, at which point they become flaming wrecks by the side of the track. There's also bonus money at the end of a race if you finish with 2% or less damage. Given that most races result in you having to repair at least 30% damage (which doesn't come cheap on the better cars), the enthusiasm of the sponsor who gives you the minimal damage bonus is justified.
** Averted (as much as the DOS-era graphics would allow) in ''VideoGame/FatalRacing'': Cars, both your and your opponents', will start smoking as they take more damage, and eventually small flames will start to erupt from the car. A car with three visible flames is a pinprick away from death and will rapidly find itself a target by other trigger-happy players within reach. At which point [[EveryCarIsAPinto it will explode]].
* As mentioned above, a lot of videogames with licensed cars have indestructible cars. One game actually had a full damage model shipped with the game only accessible by cheat codes. Games like Burnout use BrandX versions of real cars in order to get away with their insane crashes.
** There was a NASCAR game which used this as a selling point. The ad even featured a real car versus a normal game car, with crew members hitting the game car with tools and amazed at how it didn't break.
** The reason many car manufacturers don't want damage models attached most of the time is because they don't want simulated crashes to reflect badly on their car designs. They fear that if a player happens to cause a particularly-nasty crash with their car (especially in the increasing push for accurate physics modeling), they may feel it's not a safe car to drive in real life (and safety is usually a factor in car purchases), potentially influencing real-life sales in the showroom. Basically, no one wants to be seen as the next Ford Pinto.
* ''NeedForSpeed Carbon'' opens with a race at the end of which your car is "[[TakeOurWordForIt totaled]]" in a crash. Since it's a licensed car, all damage to it occurs during a DiscretionShot, and you never see it afterward.
* Need For Speed Underground 2 plays it straight except for certain cases where the rarely-used stunt camera will show broken glass in the windows of your car, which is instantly fixed when you switch back to the regular camera.
* In ''NoMoreHeroes'', Travis' bike is indestructible [[spoiler:up until the finale, where it crashes to cement the fact that this is the Point of No Return]].


[[AC:WesternAnimation]]
* ''WesternAnimation/TaleSpin'' is an example of this trope applied inconsistently. The Sea Duck is virtually indestructible, except in the final episode of the ''Plunder and Lightning'' pilot arc where it is completely destroyed. Planes occasionally explode when shot down, but a ''crash'' usually involves the plane skidding to a stop (or a comic "pile-up" in midair).
* ''WesternAnimation/SamAndMaxFreelancePolice'' and their invincible [=DeSoto=].
** It "dies" without explanation between episodes 4 and 5 of Season 2, [[CameBackWrong but is soon resurrected when its soul is released from Hell.]] Of course, it seems to have come back as a ''demon'' car...

[[AC:RealLife]]
* Volvos. The damn things are nigh indestructible, it takes a lot of deliberate effort to kill one, like driving one off of a cliff, ''Twice''.
* [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercedes-Benz_W124 Mercedes-Benz E series W124 (1985-1996)]] had been designed to be as sturdy as possible. This turned thousands of them in the favorite brand of taxicab companies, and also made them almost impervious to traffic accidents. In a deconstruction of the actual trope, the outer bodywork panels may be shredded from nose to tail, but the safety cage around the cabin and the mechanical parts would still hold. In some cases, the Mercedes had been hit from the back by a lighter car and pushed forwards into another car, trunk pushed inwards by more than 1ft, front hood turned into an accordion, front fenders bent backwards, engine and radiator pushed back without breaking, and the car still drove under its own power to the workshop.
* TopGear demonstrated that the Toyota Hilux (called Tacoma in the US) CAN NOT BE STOPPED. By no means does it literally fit the trope name-- no bodywork ever made will survive spending a night in the ocean, being lit on fire, and being strapped to the roof of an imploding high-rise. After all that, though, it still moved easily under its own power with no parts replaced and only a few minutes repair with hand tools.
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* Human vehicles in the first ''{{Halo}}'' game are completely indestructible, regardless of ''what'' you hit them with. In the second and third games, this trope is partly subverted in that vehicles ''do'' show damage, but they cannot actually be destroyed unless Master Chief (or the Arbiter)'s HP is depleted entirely.

** Averted (as much as the DOS-era graphics would allow) in ''FatalRacing'': Cars, both your and your opponents', will start smoking as they take more damage, and eventually small flames will start to erupt from the car. A car with three visible flames is a pinprick away from death and will rapidly find itself a target by other trigger-happy players within reach. At which point [[EveryCarIsAPinto it will explode]].

Contrast with EveryCarIsAPinto. See also BeautyIsNeverTarnished.

* In the 1984 film of [[NineteenEightyFour the story of the same name]], everything is run down, dirty and decaying except for a patrol helicopter that's seen outside Winston Smith's window at one point. Presumably because it would have been too much trouble to dirty down a helicopter and then clean it up again before returning it to the hire company.

* The remake of ''TheNuttyProfessor'': During when Buddy Love is leaving the nightclub to his Dodge Viper while reverting back to Sherman Klump with the assistant Jason approaching him, is over-sized foot slammed the accelerator maneuvering pass every car untouched until eventually stopped. The fire department still have to use the jaws of life to get Sherman out.

* [[TheBluesBrothers The Bluesmobile]], as noted above, is indestructible (except when it reaches the courthouse, at which point it spontaneously falls apart).

* The NighInvulnerable Dodge truck in the movie ''Twister''. The rest of the storm chaser's cars lose windshields to hail and get dented from storm debris, the hero's truck only gets a measly flat tire, and that's not even storm-related!
* ''[[JamesBond GoldenEye]]'' had the officially licensed cars appear for just a bit and not really do anything. When fans complained at the sponsor and the filmmakers, ''TomorrowNeverDies'' ended up with a lengthy chase scene where the licensed car that ended up being practically reduced to a crumpled ball of sheet metal, but Bond dropped it off back at the rental agency... Through their window.

* ''TaleSpin'' is an example of this trope applied inconsistently. The Sea Duck is virtually indestructible, except in the final episode of the ''Plunder and Lightning'' pilot arc where it is completely destroyed. Planes occasionally explode when shot down, but a ''crash'' usually involves the plane skidding to a stop (or a comic "pile-up" in midair).
* ''SamAndMaxFreelancePolice'' and their invincible [=DeSoto=].
** It "dies" without explanation between episodes 204 and 205 of Season 2, [[CameBackWrong but is soon resurrected when its soul is released from Hell.]] Of course, it seems to have come back as a ''demon'' car...

* During an episode of ''Series/{{Heroes}}'' there's a shoot out with one person hiding behind Hiro and Ando's rented Nissan Versa. In a fine moment of obvious product placement, Hiro later comments that there's not a scratch on the Versa.

* As mentioned in the trope description, Volvos. The damn things are nigh indestructible, it takes a lot of deliberate effort to kill one, like driving one off of a cliff, ''Twice''.
* The Nintendo World Store in New York City has an original Game Boy in a display case playing ''Tetris'' that was BOMBED during the Gulf War.

A case of TruthInTelevision where Volvos are concerned, which have a reputation for being built like tanks (or rather, tanks are built like Volvos).

* ''[[JamesBond GoldenEye]]'' had the officially licensed cars appear for just a bit and not really do anything. When fans complained at the sponsor and the filmmakers, ''TomorrowNeverDies'' ended up with a lengthy chase scene where the licensed car that ended up being practically reduced to a crumpled ball of sheet metal, but Bond dropped it off back at the rental agency... Through their window (I'll admit that while I greatly dislike the other Pierce Brosnan movies, TND is one of my very favorite Bond films).

* As mentioned above, a lot of videogames with licensed cars have indestructible cars. One game (I forget which one) actually had a full damage model shipped with the game only accessible by cheat codes. Games like Burnout use BrandX versions of real cars in order to get away with their insane crashes.
** There was a NASCAR game, although I think it was for one of the lesser series, which used as a selling point destructible models. The ad even featured a real car versus a normal game car, with crew members hitting the game car with tools and amazed at how it didn't break.
* Noticeably avoided in the Papyrus NASCAR games. Much to my delight when I was playing them and losing to the computer.

** This is possibly FridgeBrilliance. A totalitarian government will make sure to keep patrol helicopters and other military vehicles in prestine condition because they focus more on the military than the rest of the country, akin to Soviet Russia or North Korea.

* During an episode of ''Series/{{Heroes}}'' there's a shoot out with one person hiding behind Hiro and Ando's rented Nissan Versa. In a fine moment of obvious product placment, Hiro later comments that there's not a scratch on the Versa.

* Noticably avoided in the Papyrus NASCAR games. Much to my delight when I was playing them and losing to the computer.

* As mentioned in the trope description, Volvos. The damn things are nigh indestructable, it takes a lot of deliberate effort to kill one, like driving one off of a cliff, ''Twice''.

** In the case of the racing game ''DeathRally'', regardless of how many bullets you've flung at the opposing cars or how much damage you've taken, the cars on the track look just fine until their damage hits 100%, at which point they become flaming wrecks by the side of the track. There's also bonus money at the end of a race if you finish with 2% or less damage. Given that most races result in you having to repair at least 30% damage (which doesn't come cheap on the better cars), the enthusiasm of the sponsor who gives you the minimal damage bonus is justified.

* In ''NoMoreHeroes'', Travis' bike is indestructible [[spoiler:up until the finale, where it crashes to cement the fact that this is the Point of No Return]].

** A better indicator of this trope is the chase scene earlier in the film through a crowded mall. The mall was brand new and had nothing inside. The Blues Brothers team filled the inside of the mall, then asked a few car dealers to fill the lot outside so the mall would look crowded. In interviews later on, the cast and crew were very afraid of doing any damage whatsoever to the parked cars, as they all had to go back to the dealers without a scratch.

* The remake of ''TheNuttyProfessor'': During when Buddy Love is leaving the nightclub to his Dodge Viper while reverting back to Sherman Klump with the assistant Jason approaching him. His over-sized foot slammed the accelerator and maneuvering pass every car untouched and eventually stopped. The fire department still have to use the jaws of life to get Sherman out.

* ''Blast Corps''.
* The Bluesmobile, as noted above, is indestructible (except when it reaches the courthouse, at which point it spontaneously falls apart).
** A better indicator of this trope is the chase scene earlier in the film through a crowded mall. The mall was brand new and had nothing inside. The Blues Brothers team filled the inside of the mall, then asked a few car dealers to fill the lot outside so the mall would look crowded. In interviews later on, the cast and crew were very afraid of doing any damage whatsoever to the parked cars, as they all had to go back to the dealers without a scratch.

* ''TaleSpin'' is an example of this trope applied inconsistently. The Sea Duck is virtually indestructible, except in the final episode of the ''Plunder and Lightning'' pilot arc where it is completely destroyed. Planes occasionally explode when shot down, but a ''crash'' usually involves the plane skidding to a stop (or a comic "pile-up" in midair).
* Human vehicles in the first ''{{Halo}}'' game are completely indestructible, regardless of ''what'' you hit them with. In the second and third games, this trope is partly subverted in that vehicles ''do'' show damage, but they cannot actually be destroyed unless Master Chief (or the Arbiter)'s HP is depleted entirely.
* If ''MythBusters'' is anything to go by, the General Lee from ''TheDukesOfHazzard'' couldn't possibly survive all those insane stunts every episode. In fact, the General Lee ''didn't'' survive all those insane stunts: they went through 309 of them over the course of the series to maintain the "not a scratch on it" look.
** Of the 26 Dodge Chargers used in the film, many were wrecked so a few could finish without a scratch. One of the original General Lee's had to be returned to Warner studios after shooting, and two Chargers that were acquired for two bucks on the condition they be sold back to the prior owner for a dollar and a quarter each.
* Justified in ''KnightRider'', with the car being NighInvulnerable. Even more so in the recent TV movie, where the car isn't quite as invulnerable, but self-repairing. After a certain crash, the car still sparkled. (As per the tv movie, it also only worked when the system was on; turn off the computer, and you have a normal, smashable car. In the show, however, it was a high tech polymer, with the formula split between three different people. KITT did not become vulnerable until someone created an antidote, and then it was just so they could upgrade KITT into a convertible.)
* Mentioned on the ''{{Transformers}}'' DVD, where the CGI robots were given plenty of dings and scratches to help them blend into the environment, but the prop cars themselves were always buffed, sometimes giving them an almost CGI appearance.
* The NighInvulnerable Dodge truck in the movie ''Twister''. The rest of the storm chaser's cars lose windshields to hail and get dented from storm debris, the hero's truck only gets a measly flat tire, and that's not even storm-related!
* In ''NoMoreHeroes'', Travis' bike is indestructible [[spoiler:up until the finale, where it crashes to cement the fact that this is the Point of No Return]].
* ''[[JamesBond GoldenEye]]'' had the officially licensed cars appear for just a bit and not really do anything. When fans complained at the sponsor and the filmmakers, ''TomorrowNeverDies'' ended up with a lengthy chase scene where the licensed car that ended up being practically reduced to a crumpled ball of sheet metal, but Bond dropped it off back at the rental agency... Through their window (I'll admit that while I greatly dislike the other Pierce Brosnan movies, TND is one of my very favorite Bond films).
* In the 1984 film of [[NineteenEightyFour the story of the same name]], everything is run down, dirty and decaying except for a patrol helicopter that's seen outside Winston Smith's window at one point. Presumably because it would have been too much trouble to dirty down a helicopter and then clean it up again before returning it to the hire company.

* Arguably, the vehicle driven by Dennis Quaid in the film ''Vantage Point''. He (playing a Secret Service agent) chases a vehicle being driven by his traitorous partner, and incurs three car crashes during the chase, none of which slow the vehicle down at all. It's only a full-on collision with a wall that stops the vehicle, and Dennis Quaid jumps out of the vehicle with nary a scratch.

* ''SamAndMaxFreelancePolice'' and their invincible [=DeSoto=].
** It "dies" without explanation between episodes 204 and 205 of Season 2, [[CameBackWrong but is soon resurrected when its soul is released from Hell.]] Of course, it seems to have come back as a ''demon'' car...

* The TopGear presenters once tried to destroy a Toyota Hilux. They failed - after drowning it, using it as a wrecking ball and putting it on top of a block of flats that was then demolished, it still started. The beat-up Hilux in question now sits on a podium in the studio, and Toyota went on to release the Hilux Invincible, and use footage of the process in commercials for the US-model [[MarketBasedTitle Tacoma]].

This is often a consequence of lawyers: for ProductPlacement, car companies will often supply the vehicles for a movie, on the terms that the cars not be damaged, either because they'd like them back, or to perpetuate some ridiculous idea that their cars are indestructible. This is made worse in VideoGames, since some game companies have an irrational need to pay to licence real products instead of making the other company pay ''them'' for the advertizing like everyone else, the makers of the products in question can set the terms to whatever they want, which can often mean indestructible cars. This can influence gameplay; at least one racing game has had to cut out damage models because the licensors wouldn't let them.

This is often a consequence of lawyers: for ProductPlacement, car companies will often supply the vehicles for a movie, on the terms that the cars not be damaged, either because they'd like them back, or to perpetuate some ridiculous idea that their cars are indestructible. This is made worse in VideoGames, since every product in the game needs to be licensed, the makers of the products in question can set the terms to whatever they want, which can often mean indestructible cars. This can influence gameplay; at least one racing game has had to cut out damage models because the licensors wouldn't let them.

** Averted (as much as the DOS-era graphics would allow) in ''FatalRacing'': Cars, both your and your opponents', will start smoking as they take more damage, and eventually small flames will start to erupt from the car. A car with three visible flames is a pinprick away from death and will rapidly find itself a target by other trigger-happy players within reach. At which point [[MadeOfExplodium it will explode]].

** Averted (as much as the DOS-era graphics would allow) in ''FatalRacing'': Cars, both your and your opponents', will start smoking as they take more damage, and eventually small flames will start to erupt from the car. A car with three visible flames is a pinprick away from death and will rapidly find itself a target by other trigger-happy players within reach.

This is often a consequence of lawyers: for {{Product Placement}}, car companies will often supply the vehicles for a movie, on the terms that the cars not be damaged, either because they'd like them back, or to perpetuate some ridiculous idea that their cars are indestructible. This is made worse in {{Video Games}}, since every product in the game needs to be licensed, the makers of the products in question can set the terms to whatever they want, which can often mean indestructible cars. This can influence gameplay; at least one racing game has had to cut out damage models because the licensors wouldn't let them.

Contrast with EveryCarIsAPinto.

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